Storm's Rising
by Keeper of Storms
Summary: Halloween taught Alexander Harris two very important lessons. The first  Time is not fixed, the future not set in stone. The second  Nothing is impossible, some things are just really, REALLY unlikely.
1. A New Path

**DISCLAIMER:** If I actually owned Doctor Who, or Buffy, I'd be spending my time on much more important things than writing FANfiction...

**Note:** I am well aware that the new Doctor Who had not yet started during the time of Buffy. Lovely thing about fanfiction. It's actually supposed to be _different_. Incredible isn't it?

* * *

Alexander Harris walked towards Ethan's Costume Shoppe with a single and simple purpose. To buy a toy gun. Now, to others, such a goal would seem weird or childish, but to Alexander, it was a necessary and definite goal.

"_Let's see now, twenty bucks to spend, fatigues at home, no weapon. Unacceptable, what sort of soldier walks around without a gun?" _Such was Xander's thought process as he walked through Ethan's front door.

"_Right then… Where's the weapons…"_ Alex quickly began searching though the store, looking for not only a weapon that would match his intended costume, but also any alternative costumes that would fit in his price range. _"Robot… too simple, Magneto… too expensive, Vampire... hell no!"_

It was as Xander walked past yet another isle on his way to the weaponry that he came across a Tan overcoat and pinstripe suit hanging off a hook on the wall. The set of clothing itself was nothing extraordinary, however, the silver penlight that was clipped to its front quickly caught Harris' attention.

"_*whistle* That's the new Doctor's screwdriver isn't it? Dang, way too expensive for me. Shame, it'd be nice to be able to wear THAT to Halloween…" _Xander's musings were broken by the approach of the shop keeper. "Excuse me, are you interested in buying this costume?"

Reluctantly Xander declined the offer "Sorry pal, as much as I'd love to I'm afraid I'm a little strapped for cash at the moment."

Ethan seemed to frown at that comment "Ahh… I see… Well, I'd be most happy to make a deal with you in return for allowing you to hire this costume for the evening. In fact, I've already made one such deal with a young blonde lady who came in just before you did. I'm sure we can work something out…"

Alex raised his eyebrows at the shopkeeper's apparent eagerness for him to wear the suit, but decided to explore the offer anyway _"No point in looking a gift horse in the mouth"_. "Well, if you're sure. I mean I've only got twenty dollars to spend but if you're willing to give it to me for the night…"

"Wonderful! Now, I'll just bag this up for you but the only condition is that you must tell everyone just _where_ you got your costume from. Is that fair enough?"

Alex's eyes all but burst from their sockets "_Fair enough? Is he mad?" _"Absolutely, Mr Rayne, it'd be a pleasure."

Ethan seemed to rather pleased as he finished bagging the suit and coat, as he handed them over and Xander payed he almost seemed to chuckle. "It's been a pleasure helping you. Have a great Halloween."

Alex replied with the same as he left the shop. _"Score! No Mr. Plain Xander tonight! Now, time to get home and changed in time to watch all those little monsters go around pilfering candy." _

The ripples from this simple choice of a different costume would start small. But it was this simple act of defying the path already set and choosing his own that would eventually shake the heavens, and make the demons tremble in fear.

Alexander walked down the street, proudly watching as the children placed under his care utilised his lessons to the maximum and claimed a bounty of chocolate like none other. It was relaxing, he decided, that for at least one night out of the year it was safe to walk the streets of Sunnydale. _"After all, no one ever tries something on Halloween. Too 'commercialised' for any self-respecting demon. Just one night of fun and candy, nothing to go wrong."_

Of course, had Alex been his usual aware self, he would have instantly realised just how wrong things were about to get.

Elsewhere, a pulse of magic ripped out from a bust which was followed by an exhausted chuckle. "Let's see just how 'gone' Ripper is."

The Doctor walked up the walkway towards the console. Gone was the usual boisterous and energetic bounce, it its stead was something more sedate, determined, resigned. It was as he was about to take off his coat that it happened. Raw unaltered pain and energy coursed through his body. Even the Time Vortex could learn something from this chaotic maelstrom of change and potential. Yet, just as quickly as it begun the pain stopped and no longer was he in the TARDIS preparing for his regeneration.

The Doctor spun around, his eyes widening in shock and horror as monsters and demons and things-that-definitely-shouldn't-exist clashed in open warfare in the streets of some unnamed town that definitely WASN'T the TARDIS.

"What?"

"Xander!" The Doctor turned to the new voice, shocked as a… well… a _ghost_ floated towards him.

"Oh Xander! I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"What?"

"Xander are you okay?"

The Doctor turned around and saw his reflection in the window of a house.

"WHAT?"


	2. Consequences

The Doctor raced across Sunnydale, he didn't have long before Giles ended the spell. He had seen it in the man's eyes, a dark side both well hidden and contained now longing for release. That in itself would have been fine, save for the fact that when the spell ended so would both his presence and the magic. That would not end well for Alex, not now.

He had dismissed it at first as recovering from being ripped across dimensions, via chaos magic no-less; a mere buzzing in the back of his head that was nothing more than an annoyance. That thought however had quickly faded as he focused his mind inwards in an attempt to communicate with Alex. He succeeded. Though the result was not what he expected.

Alex was in pain, excruciating pain as his senses changed and developed. Old ones upgraded and new ones installed. The Doctor attempting to help searched for the cause of the renovations and what he found shocked him to the core.

Alexander was becoming a Time Lord.

That revelation quickly placed a whole new spin on things for the teenager and his current resident. The chaos magic was changing his very being; his DNA was being ripped apart and recoded, his body being forced to change to a foreign template. However, it could not succeed, not without Alex dying first. Dying and regenerating. An Impossibility. Of course, the Doctor held a firm belief in the fact that nothing was impossible, which lead to his current dash to the Harris' basement.

* * *

Taking the steps down 3 at a time the Doctor promptly began engraving long forgotten designs into the floor of the basement. It was tiring work. Even for a Time Lord the level of mental acuity and precision required for the crafting to be successful was incredible. Old High Gallifreyan runes were scattered across the place, mixed in with words of power created by the Eternals and symbols from races long since dead. It was incredible, the Doctor decided later, that if it had merely been the Doctor it would never have worked. If he had been restricted to merely the knowledge and experience of a millennium old Time Lord he would never have come up with such an inventive and _brilliant_ way of mixing all that magic. That spark, that gut instinct, that incredible creativity comes from growing up on the planet named Earth, it and it alone was responsible for the sheer power of the Doctor's creation.

The Doctor's screwdriver whined continually for a solid hour. The room that was once the Harris' basement was now a ritual chamber of incredible power. An incredible web of runes and symbols was spread across the floor of the basement giving the room a_ feel_ of both age and power. As the Doctor stepped into the centre of the array he imbedded one last thought, a message, into the mind of his current body. "_Never forget Alex, humans are monsters. Bloodthirsty, warmongering, disgusting apes, and I wouldn't get rid of them for the universe."_

The Doctor raised his screwdriver to his finger and activated it. A second later a single drop of blood welled up on the tip of the Doctor's finger and fell.

"_Nothing is impossible Alex, Time isn't fixed, the future isn't set in stone, but you must never forget…"_

Just as the drop hit the centre of the array across the other side of Sunnydale, Giles smashed the two-faced bust of Janus on the ground. Resulting in the cancellation of the spell and a wave of chaos magic rippling across the town.

"_Nothing__ is impossible, some things are just a tad unlikely."_

And with his message imparted the array flared into life. The wave of Chaos Magic found itself pulled into a ritual never before seen. The Flames of Time themselves erupted like a volcano from the ground before being pulled towards and into the body. The blood of a Time Lord powering the array with the innate energy that one can only acquire via centuries of travelling through the Time Vortex. With its power supplied and directions given, the array funnelled the wave of magic into the body of Alexander Lavelle Harris. Both triggering his regeneration and keeping it controlled. Brilliant gold and red streams of energy blasting out from his body before being focused back into him in order to successfully finish the transformation. Gone was the single heart-beat, in its stead was a steady Thump-thump-Thump-thump.

The heart-beat of a Time Lord.

* * *

It was 3 and a half hours before Xander regained consciousness and managed to look about the room. _'Did someone get the license number of that truck?' _The sight that met his eyes was of a basement that had been consumed by an inferno. Concrete still burning from the sheer power that had been released and contained during his regeneration, not that he had realised that that was the cause. It was only as he stood that his memories of the night came through his mind like a flood. Dawning horror and understanding filling his core as the consequences of his choice in costume made themselves known.

It was incredible, being able to feel the Earth turn as it spun through space. The music of creation singing through his ears. It was beautiful, and yet, it was terrifying. The sheer level of knowledge and power that Xander, because despite the regeneration he still was Xander, now held at his disposal shocked him to the core. But, just like always, Xander pulled himself together and headed for the stairs. Trickster God reincarnated or no, he would still look out for his friends.


	3. Secrets Kept

Giles sighed as he took off his glasses and rubbed them clean once more. "So, apart from Buffy's new appreciating for tea, does anyone have anything left over from their costumes?" Having received a resounding no from all involved Giles replaced his glasses and moved on. "Right then, has anyone seen Xander? He seems to have disappeared after…" Giles was interrupted by a solid thump on the wall followed closely by the topic of discussion entering the room. "Hey G-man, anything interesting happening?" Alex strode across the room, still wearing his pinstriped suit and a satisfied look on his face, tossing a tennis ball of all things into the air before catching it.

"Ah Xander, have you encountered any leftovers from the possession? And what have I told you about calling me that?" Xander shrugged before continuing to play with the ball. _'Define leftovers'_ "Well….. Far as I can tell not much at all. Just some new words, ya know, fancy ones, and I'm pretty sure I can play a mean game of cricket. Other than that… not really." "Well that's good. I've been doing some research into what happened tonight…" As Giles started explaining to both Buffy and Willow just what had happened, Alex got up and started walking away. Willow was the one to notice his early departure. "Xander? Where are you going?" Alex didn't stop his departure and merely sent a reply over his shoulder. "I'm tired, going to go to bed. See ya tomorrow Wills."

Despite his apparent nonchalance towards the night's events, on the inside Alex's mind and emotions where whizzing around in a chaotic maelstrom that only a Time Lord could possibly hope to have in their head and not be driven insane. Questions like why, what am I, and what do I do were sending him into a mild panic attack and the knowledge of his new immortality giving him a rather sick feeling in his stomach. However, despite all these problems he knew that he could not under any circumstances let Buffy or Willow find out. They meant the best, they really did, but they would try to change him back, make him _human_. They wouldn't understand, they couldn't understand, the array in his basement had self-erased and there was no way to turn him into a human without killing him. It was a one way trip, unless one had a chameleon arch but even that was only temporary. The safeguards built into it would ensure that the watch would automatically open in order to allow him to regenerate.

Which led him to his current situation. He wasn't just some random human teenager anymore, he had 906 years of travelling through Time and Space in a blue box under his belt and was one of two _known_ survivors of the most brutal war in the history of the universe who were still alive. And that's disregarding the fact that he was a copy of the Doctor. But even that wasn't entirely true; yes he had the Doctor's memories, yes he remembered the Time War, yes he knew how agonising it was to watch his planet burn. The thing was, it wasn't _Alexander's_ planet, it was the Doctor's. So here he was, a survivor of a race that had never existed, stranded on a planet that hadn't even begun a true space program yet. Yet, this same planet was Alex's home. Earth. The third planet in the Sol system, the birthplace of twinkies, spandex wearing comic book characters, and Bugs Bunny. It was _his_ world and Alex had no intention of letting it burn like Gallifrey. There, that was decided, the question now was _how_ exactly was he going to do it.

'_First things first'_ Alex thought as he arrived back home. '_Time to figure out just how much exactly I picked up.' _With both immediate and far future plans decided, Alex turned his focus inward and begun determining just how much had been left behind from the spell, as well as coming to terms with just what he had become.

* * *

Alex woke up early the next morning and promptly got out of bed. _'Right then. First issue, funds.'_ Quickly getting dressed, while sparing a gag for his shirt _'Eck! Even that SCARF was better than these'_ he left the Harris residence, nicking the small amount of cash his parents had on hand.

"Time to introduce this world to ATMOS."

It was mid-afternoon before Alex finished what he had set out to do. Mind you, designing a device designed to eliminate pollution at a molecular level, deliberately making it far less effective than you could have while still making it look cutting edge, building a prototype of said device, patenting said device, AND arranging a conditional business loan from a bank all within 12 hours is no mean feat. In fact, most would call it extraordinary. As it was however, Alexander was exhausted. Time Lords may have improved physiology and all those other great tidbits that come from being an incredibly advanced race, but they still needed to eat. Something that Alex had neglected over the course of the day.

So it was with great irritation that as he stumbled off the bus he was confronted with the sight of Buffy, Willow and Giles waiting for him. _'Gorram it!'_

It wasn't that eventful of a trip from the bus station to the library but it was a painful one. Having a slayer hold onto your arm with a vice grip will do that. Nothing was said the entire trip, Buffy and Willow appeared to be pretending he didn't exist while Giles appeared to be reading an old Gaelic book on possession. Alex himself on the other hand, was just waiting for the torture to be over.

Thankfully the trip to the library was not that long and was promptly ended with Alex being thrown into a wall. He mentally snorted _'Let the interrogation begin' _Buffy, of course, was always one to please. "Who are you and what have you done with Xander?"

* * *

**Notes:** (I've redefined these as Old Girl Lost pointed out the wording was misleading:) I'll be posting another chapter tomorrow. My only issue is that in the future I intend on having Xander lose control of his temper, and I mean complete control. Think Waters of Mars. The catch is there is only one of two ways that I can see that happening: A) Janna being killed, albeit in a far more brutal way than the show or B) Have Joyce killed, again rather brutally, probably by Angelus.

The Doctor has a very well, interesting, moral code. Which means just doing something to one of the scoobies wouldn't (to my mind at least) have that great an effect. They're soldiers fighting a war and the Doctor understands that. Any suggestions as to how to send Alex all 'Oncoming Storm/Vengeful God mode other than the above options would be apreciated.


	4. The Game Begins

Alex sighed at Buffy's predictability. "I don't suppose telling you that I AM Xander would make much difference? You seem to be stuck on the 'Demon Imposter' track at the moment." Buffy's reply did nothing more than prove his point "Nuh uh! No way you're Xander. Xander never gets up before noon on a Saturday, and that's not even counting the way you left last night. So spill, who are you and what have you done with Xander?" _'Great, there goes my day.'_ "I am Xander, now, if you'd be so kind as to let me go Buffy, I have an appointment with my twinkie stash." Giles took off his glasses and started rubbing them rather thoroughly. "Well, it isn't that hard to determine the truth of your statement, a simple identity spell will let us know whether or not that is the case." The look on Alex's face however, contradicted that statement. "Umm G-man? Hyena remember? Couple that with last night…" Giles looked shocked for a moment before replacing his glasses. "Ah. That might be a problem." "What do you mean Giles?" "The hyena possession coupled with the possession of last night will have made a sufficient change to his soul that an identification spell won't recognise him as Xander."

Willow seemed rather put out by the suggestion that magic couldn't solve the problem. "Then how are we supposed to make sure he's Xander?" It was at this point that Angel walked in. Alex, though matured by his change, couldn't resist taking a jab at the leather-clad brooder. "Ah Deadboy, this probably isn't the best time. Buffy was just showing me just how much she likes it rough." Buffy, amidst a great deal of sputtered denials, promptly let go of Alex. While Giles and Willow both looked at each other for a mere second before they both agreed. "He's Xander." Angel was left standing there with a rather shocked look on his face. "Someone mind explaining what's going on?" After a dusting down from Willow, a hurried explanation from Buffy and an apology from Giles they let him go.

* * *

Alex took another bite out of his apple as he entered the Harris basement carrying a box of assorted junk. The confrontation with Giles had rather brutally reminded him of the fact that he was no longer human and that despite the lack of technology around, there were alternative methods. As such, he had promptly bought a new watch along with some various implements. An ordinary biodampner wasn't all that complicated, one capable of masking a Time Lord from both technological and magical means however, required some serious thought. Thankfully, his Time Lord intellect was more than up to the task, though he did have to restrain his more creative side from adding a few… _extras_ to the watch.

Setting himself down at the bench Alex begun to work. Thankfully what would have normal been an incredibly long and tedious project was eased by the fact that his screwdriver had partially survived the transition. Most of its functions were lost but both its engraving function and the general mechanical functions had remained. In fact, it was actually almost a _normal_ sonic screwdriver. '_Can't have that now can we. I'll have to build a new one ASAP'_ Alex mused to himself as he worked. It took a solid 2 hours to finish the modifications and by the time Alex was finished he was definitely rather thirsty. 

Life for Alex continued despite his rather _defining_ changes. The interview with the bank specialists came and went, the loan was granted and Echo Point Engineering had begun both marketing and developing the ATMOS technology. The military had at one point attempted to purchase the related patents but Alex had firmly refused. Somethings just weren't going to happen.

Life with the scoobies however was rather depressing. In an attempt to minimise opportunity for him to out himself Alex had withheld from directly affecting the group's thought process. Instead calling upon his experiences as the Doctor to subtly prod and guide his friends into the right, from his perspective, direction. Even when the Ford incident happened, Alex refrained from interfering, despite his anger over Ford's obsession with immortality and total disregard of the cost others would have to pay for it.

The lack of notice from his friends regarding his lessening presence did hurt. Sure, he didn't have super powers (That they knew of), he wasn't some prophesised warrior or some half-demon seeking redemption but the fact that they didn't even notice, or if they did they didn't pay much attention to, his increasing absence stung rather hard.

Strangely enough, the cure to Alex's increasing degree of loneliness came about from his first major mistake regarding concealing his new existence.

* * *

Their late Saturday morning computer class went fine. Miss Calendar seemed to pay more attention than most teachers did to Alex, not accepting substandard work and insisting that he apply himself. She stated that she was positive, that if he merely had the self-discipline to work at it he would get the hang of it in no time. Such interest in Alex was unheard of, most people simply saw 'Harris the slacker' and paid no more mind. The fact that Miss Calendar had taken the time to look underneath the surface to the potential within resulted in an almost puppy-like loyalty from what was left of Xander Harris in the young Time Lord's psyche.

As such, after being informed by Buffy about being her brief stint of being knocked unconscious, Alex arranged his afternoon and evening so that he could drop by and check on her. Unfortunately, Alex hadn't been present for said encounter, having been on the phone with one of the scientists at Echo Point regarding possible power source development. This coupled with Buffy's omission of just _why_ Jenny had been knocked unconscious and what was going on left Alex unaware of her possession by Eyghon with no warning as to her current resident whatsoever. Later while looking back on the day's events, Alex realised that the events following his encounter with said demon should have set off all sorts of warning alarms in his head.

Hindsight is 20-20 after all. 

Alex walked up the stairs to Jenny's house completely unaware of the confrontation that was about to obliterate his cover. Merrily humming a jaunty tune he rang the door-bell, sticking his hands in his pockets in a manner eerily reminiscent of his origin. Jenny opened the door and raised her eyebrow as she noticed who it was. "Xander, what are you doing here? Please, come in." She followed this statement with a backwards step and opening the door, giving Alex plenty of room to enter unimpeded.

"Thanks Miss C, just checking up on you. Buffy said you knocked your head in the library so I thought I'd better drop round and say hi." Alex quickly stepped through the open door, it may not have been night just yet but there was still no sense in waiting around. "Thank you for the concern Xander, I'm quite alright though. In fact I was just about to make myself a drink, would you like one?" "Yes please, just water though." "I'll be back in a minute." Jenny entered the kitchen and began fixing the drinks. It was as she came back with a glass in one hand and a mug in the other that the smirk on her face set alarms off in Alex's head.

The rather provocative manner in which she handed Alex his drink, giving a full view of her cleavage only cemented the suspicion in his mind. The tone of her voice, laced with lust was nothing more than the icing on the cake. "There you go Alex, a nice drink for a handsome young man." Alex quickly put the glass down on the table. "May I ask who you are? You are most certainly not Miss Calendar." The not-Jenny appeared shocked "Whatever do you mean?" though her look quickly turned hungry looking "Besides, I'm sure we can find more _pleasurable_ things to talk about…" She punctuated this by drifting her finger across Alex's jawline.

Alex however was not to be trifled with and simply grabbed the offending hand and pushed it away. "I don't know who you are but I sincerely suggest you leave. _Immediately"_ The last word was more a command than a suggestion and the demon did not react kindly stepping back with a look of rage on her face. "Foolish boy! How dare you have the nerve to command me what to do! I, the great Eyghon, being ordered about a mere human. I guess I shall have to teach you some respect before I enjoy the pleasures of this body." Eyghon went to step towards Alex however the look on his face was enough to cause the demon to falter. Gone was the calm and kind face with piercing eyes. It its place was a look of rage and an almost tangible feeling of power. As Alex stood up the demon stumbled backwards, brown eyes flashing with a rage that left Eyghon terrified.

"Don't you dare talk about Jenny like that! I have travelled through Time and Space, fought against monsters that devoured worlds, and destroyed civilisations with a click of my fingers. I have waged war against gods and demons that make this world's inhabitants look like the Tooth Fairy. I am the Oncoming Storm, the Trickster God, the Lonely Angel. Do. Not. CROSS **ME**!" The final words of his rant were laced with a power and intensity that left Eyghon cowering in fear before him. "You have 1 hour, to find a suitable host and get OUT of her body before I make you. And believe me I won't be gentle about it, or what I do with you after. Am I clear?"

Eyghon could barely nod in reply it was so terrified of this human, no, not human, he was something older than that. Impossibly old. It was at this point that the rest of the Scooby gang arrived, battle gear and all. Buffy, noticing Alex's presence, cried out a warning "Xander! Get away from her, she's been possessed by a demon!" Alex quickly backed away, his remaining anger being mistaken for hate of the demon by the others. They quickly tied Miss Calendar up, discussing their plan for disposing of the demon Eyghon. Alex stayed silent through it all, merely observing and watching them carry the now bound form of Miss Calendar out the door and into a waiting car. He waited a minute or two before slowly beginning his walk home, the complete disregard for his presence displayed by his supposed friends slowly sinking its way through his thought processes.

**NOTES:** Well, there we are. I'm trying to show that while he is now a Time Lord he still thinks like a human. Any suggestions as to what I can improve or queries for clarification are welcome. After all, I can't get better unless people tell me what's wrong.


	5. Confessions

Alex had almost two full days of what he would call 'normal' before the repercussions of his loss of control made themselves known. His computer class was just finishing up when Miss Calendar spoke "Xander, would you please stay after class. I need a word." With that single sentence Alex's mind raced into overdrive, thousands of thoughts and plans made and rejected in mere seconds. As the rest of the class left, Alex stayed behind. His mind already having determined that either A) She remembered what had happened during her possession or B) He'd messed up during class. He was pretty sure it wasn't B, despite his hopes.

Miss Calendar walked over to the classroom door, shutting it before murmuring a string of Romanian. Alex raised his eyebrows at the language choice before quickly schooling his expression as the teacher walked back to him. Placing his bag on the desk next to him Alex sat down, waiting for Miss Calendar to begin. Miss Calendar however, merely sat down across from him and clasped her hands together before resting her chin on them. The silence stretched for a good minute before she spoke "Are you actually Xander?"

That… was not was he was expecting. Alex though had no intention of letting himself be distracted by such an insignificant detail. As such, he replied in kind, albeit with a raised eyebrow "Define Xander." Jenny appeared to consider this for a moment before continuing "Were you born Alexander LaVelle Harris to Tony and Jessica Harris in 1980?" "Yes" "Are you still in possession of your original soul?" "Yes" Jenny seemed to mentally struggle with this before replying with a rather weak "Oh." Alex however, had only just begun his interrogation even if his target wasn't aware. Sharp eyes picked out details that most others would have missed. His incredible reservoir of knowledge allowing connections to be made and theories created all the while he continued to stare. His unfaltering gaze quickly unnerved Jenny who, despite her best efforts, quickly succumbed to the pressure and broke the silence. "Is something wrong?" A ghost of a smirk passed across Alex's face, so quickly that Jenny was left wondering if she actually saw it. "No, nothing's wrong. I'm just trying to figure out why a member of the Kalderash is here in Sunnydale. It's certainly not for the neighbourhood."

Janna's mind crashed to a halt. '_Wha? How di…' _"Your earrings." Her focus snapped back to the present. "My… Earrings?" "Yup, lovely things they are too. Craftsmanship like that is rather rare, and the design itself is specific to the Romani. Couple that with that delightful bracelet and voila! Kalderash." Janna was floored. '_He got all that from my earrings and bracelet?' _"I see. I'm here to maintain a curse. It was placed a century or so ago and recently events have suggested that it has been failing." Janna watched as Alex frowned in thought. She had to strain to hear his mutterings but she managed all the same. "Curse? What curse? Curse on an object can't be maintained… That means curse on a person. Who would the…" Alex's head snapped up, dark, impossibly old, brown eyes looking straight into hers as he uttered a single word.

"Angel."

It was strange really, not once during their conversation that afternoon did they ever mention what/who Alex was. The same was true for Janna's family after the initial revelation. That is not to say conversation after that point was stilted however. Jenny was quite an intelligent woman, and was far too bright to be stuck as a high school computer teacher. Talking with Alex gave her a chance to release the tight control she'd been holding over her emotions and knowledge. The same was true for Alex, if slightly different. Talking with Jenny '_Janna'_ was… relaxing. He could simply talk to her without worrying about having a memory spell stuck on him or his friends trying to 'fix' him. She wasn't thrown by the tangents he went off on, though she was slightly confused as to how he managed to get from Agatha Christie to Belgian Forests. All good things must come to an end however, and it was soon time for Janna's next class. Alex quickly left, telling Janna to give him a call if she ever got bored of working in a High School and wanted to expand her horizons.

Alex spent most of the afternoon working on a new project. Echo Point had taken off nicely, ATMOS was becoming more and more widespread with every passing day. The resulting surge in funds had caused the company to expand, although it was still rather small Echo Point was quickly solidifying its position as a major rising star. The initial loan Alex had taken was already paid in full, and Alex had found himself without much to actually do as far as the company was concerned. In the end he had turned his attention outwards, to space. Although as far as he was aware there had been no major extraterrestrial incursions, looking closer he had begun to notice that several things were out of place. Reports of Egyptian Sarcophaguses being found in Incan ruins, several military incidents-which almost always involved the air force-, and a very intriguing theory by a Dr. Jackson were only the most visible indicators that said the local residents of this area of the galaxy weren't that pleasant.

This was the inspiration for his current project. Although the Doctor may have had a strict "I'll help but I'm not giving you any toys" policy Alex was not quite so inclined. He definitely believed that Earth needed to develop on their own, it was _his_ planet and he saw no reason that he couldn't… assist, in that development. He was currently working on a method of propulsion that while suitable for lunar travel, would make sure they mastered their own solar system before they started gallivanting off into the great unknown.

Of course, this one project quickly turned into several when Alex decided that it would be great if they had a method of determining just what sort of materials were available on Earth. That led to mining and construction which in turn led to drones and automated systems. By the end of that week the senior managers of Echo Point Engineering were shaking their heads at the sheer number of new and exciting projects their boss had given them.

Life for the Scooby Gang was fairly normal in Sunnydale for the next month. Some vamps to dust, the odd demon to kill, nothing apocalyptic going on. Then, something happened. Such a small thing, one tiny event that had almost no effect on the Web of Time, and yet, it was this very event that marked the beginning of the end for the supernatural in Sunnydale.

Kendra, Buffy's successor Slayer, arrived.


	6. Making Friends

Alex reviewed the current situation in his head while he listened to his board members discuss possible responses. It was fairly straight forward; one of Echo Point's labs was developing a form of repulsor technology. Apparently some shady group/organisation/cabal had heard about it and had hired two of the employees there to steal the prototype. They had approached a third and, when he refused, blackmailed him into assisting with the theft.

If the group had been remotely intelligent they would have never found them, two weeks had passed without so much as a whisper. Thankfully though, in their infinite wisdom (read, arrogance) they had holed up in a warehouse in L.A. This meant that when they completely and utterly screwed up in their experimentation with the device, causing a fairly major explosion, police were able to identify the insignia on the wreckage and Echo Point was promptly called. Now, he and his board were discussing the press release and how to approach the current situation. A suggestion from one of the conversations participants caught his attention.

"No."

Everyone else went quiet at the interruption from their Boss. Mr Porter, the one who had made the suggestion, asked for clarification. "What do you mean sir?"

Have made his decision Alex replied. "We give a public apology to the guard, I believe his name was Gasdar, who was blackmailed and offer both compensation and counselling for his family. We do NOT give a public apology for those who died. The thieves were playing around with experimental technology that we keep locked up for a reason, in fact, put the blame on them. This group that the recovered files belong to…" "NID sir." The name was supplied by Alistair Gray, Alex's second in command and a very intelligent man.

"Right, NID. They stole experimental technology, traumatised the family of one of our employees and endangered others by attempting to reverse engineer technology that they had no idea about. If anyone is going to be offering a public apology to those hurt by the blast it will be them. End. Of. Story." Alex waited for a couple of moments to let the message sink in before continuing. "Now, is there anything else we need to discuss before I go?" Alistair spoke "Actually there is. The Air Force have approached us with a request for a meeting, I suggested they make an appointment however they want to speak directly to you. I suspect they are aware of your age. There is no other reason to do so unless they believe that you would be an easier sell." One of the board members snorted "Ha! Good luck with that! I've met Spec Op soldiers that compared to him are nothing more than pussies." A round of chuckles went around the board table at that, Alex himself included. "Be that as it may, it won't hurt to be prepared. Alistair, organise a meeting for next week, preferably a weekend." Alex looked over the notes he had made before standing up from the table. "If that's all, I've got to get back to Sunnydale. Things to do, people to see, twinkies to eat. I'll see you all later." And with that, the meeting was over, various members of the Senior Management picking up their files and getting on with their day, some of them stopping for conversation on the way out. Alex walked towards the lift _'Joy, time for a bus ride back to Sunnydale. I really should find a way to make this easier.'_

* * *

Alex walked into Sunnydale High Library with no small amount of anxiety. He had made his decision as to how he'd approach discussing Halloween, only thing left was to actually go through with it. Alex quickly found Giles and called out "Hey G-man! You mind calling the others? There's something we need to talk about." Giles, who was in the middle of placing some books on the shelves, turned and looked at Alex. "I guess so. What exactly is it?" Alex merely waved it off "Nah, I only want to go through it once. In fact, it would probably be best to do so. Less chance for things to be misunderstood that way." Giles seemed to ponder this, a flicker of something passing across his face, before agreeing. "Very well, I'll call them straight away." Placing the remaining books down, Giles walked over to the phone. A few minutes later and the calls had been made, and the scooby gang was en-route for Alex's discussion.

Of course things didn't go to plan. It started out well enough, everyone arrived, Jenny included, they all sat down, they were all ready for this 'talk' that Alex needed to have. In fact, Alex was about to open his mouth when a figure crashed into the library and promptly attacked Angel.

The following discussion left Kendra staring at the night sky feeling rather shaken. Her entire life had been defined by the Watcher's Council and their rules. Yet here was her predecessor who blatantly defied said rules and had already slain 3 Master Vampires. Everything the Council had taught her was shattered, they said that the life of a Slayer was lonely, no friends other than her watcher as they were a weakness. For Buffy Summers however the opposite appeared true. Buffy had _died_ in her fight against the Master but had been revived because her _friend_ had decided to defy fate and prophecy. That bit in particular threw her out of wack, it had been ingrained in her since childhood that she was _fated_ to be The Slayer, that she was _prophesised_ to be the Slayer. And yet the class clown had said 'no' and shattered her world.

Her musings were interrupted by said Wild Card joining her in the cool air. Silenced reigned for a minute before it was broken by the newcomer. "You feeling okay?" She turned and faced him, she was about to respond rather harshly before the word choice and tone caused her to pause. The words, they weren't a gesture of compassion or an attempt to evaluate her, they were… caring. The tone even more so, it wasn't the tone you would take inquiring as to a friend's well-being it was more like… An adult, asking a child if they were okay, it was laced with so much age, experience… and… understanding. Suddenly her intended reply was replaced with her story. Even as she spilled her entire history to this _stranger, _despite the wrongness of it all, she couldn't help but feel safe.

Alex for his part wasn't entirely sure what had come over him. They had been discussing the mechanics of Buffy's death and Kendra's calling when out of the blue his feelings went from slightly interested to protective and compassionate. As such, when he noticed Kendra watching the stars appearing more than a little lost, he couldn't help but approach her. It was similar to the feeling he remembered the Doctor possessing in Manhattan, watching the Dalek/Human hybrids take their first steps to a new life. He also remembered the sheer level of sadness that had been felt upon their destruction. Alex made himself a promise then and there, the same would _NOT_ happen to Kendra, not if he had anything to say about it.

Jenny however watched, she had noticed Alex's sudden shift in behaviour and was curious as to why. It was startling really, to watch as the 17 year old Xander disappeared and the millennia old Time Lord took his place. The way he looked at Kendra, it reminded her the way the Elder of her clan looked at the children. The sheer age and experience possessed… in a face so young... it was astounding. Jenny had no way of knowing that she had just witnessed the birth of the relationship that would wind up all but destroying the presence of the supernatural on Earth. How could she? Seers across the planet were perplexed and terrified as their sight changed. Oh, they could still see the future, but there was something else there.

Something old... something different... something unbound. 

* * *

**NOTES:** Well, sorry about the delay. First I got distracted with the Chzo Mythos Series, and then FF refused to let me log in. I should have another chapter up later tonight to make up, partially at least, for it.

Incidently, it is nearing the time for Alex's name to be picked. I already have one _planned_, but I would like suggestions as well. If only to make sure I'm getting Alex's character across the way I want to. I guarantee however, if one of the suggestions makes more sense than my currently chosen one. I will not hesistate to replace it.


	7. Morons and Explanations

It had been three days since Kendra arrived, and Alex had found himself spending a fairly large amount of time with her. Despite her age, she was so young as far as mindset went. Her life with the council hadn't taught her anything beyond sleep, eat, slay, start again. Alex had taken it upon himself to show her how to live. He had started small, and was planning on taking her to the movies tomorrow.

That, however, all fell apart with the arrival of her watcher. Sam Zabuto was a short man with graying hair being the only indication of his age. Wearing a suit and tie, and armed with a briefcase he interrupted the Scoobies' afternoon meeting with a crisp, and rather harsh, request to speak with one 'Mr. Giles'. That of course got a few raised eyebrows in response, with Buffy opening her mouth to retort before Giles managed to step in. "Yes? I'm Rupert Giles, what is the matter?" Mr. Zabuto sneered before continuing "What is the matter? The matter is that you have completely disregarded established traditions of the Council. You have allowed your Slayer to run amok, completely ignored the secrecy requirements and are allowing random nobodies off the street to interfere in the sacred work of the Watcher's Council. I shall be informing Travers at once, and measures will be taken to bring your Slayer in line and undo whatever damage you've done to Kendra." Alex's entire posture changed from relaxed to tense in a moment, and, unless Jenny was mistaken, he had barely managed to hold back a snarl. Before she could salvage the situation Zabuto finished his rant. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I need to have a word with the principal. Kendra, be ready to leave in half an hour." With that he turned and left.

Jenny watched with increasing worry as Alex's face shifted into an exquisitely crafted mask. With a smile planted perfectly on his face, Alex excused himself. "I gotta run guys, catchya later." Disappearing out the door Alex left a rather shocked room behind him. Jenny however was quick to follow "I have work to mark. Call me if you need me." Leaving the Library, Jenny moved as quickly as she dared to without attracting attention. She came around a corner just in time to see Alex slam Zabuto non-too-gently against the wall, using the man's own weapon to pin him there. The snarl that had been restrained before ripped its way out with no resistance. "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but I do _not_ take kindly to people threatening me and mine." Despite his current predicament Zabuto was seemingly unfazed by the situation. "Unhand me! The Watcher's Council will hear about this!" This was quite obviously the wrong thing to say as Alex's eyes went from raging animal to freezing flame. When he spoke next his voice was… empty. It was nothing more than a freezing void, an entity that you feared to touch lest you be consumed by it. "Irrelevant. The Watcher's Council is nothing more than a bunch of arrogant fools who have grown complacent. If you or they ever, and I mean _ever_, threaten Kendra or Buffy again, I will rip apart your lives and minds so harshly that Angelus will look like Mother Theresa. Am I _Clear_?" It appeared that the threat had been accompanied some psychic reinforcement as Zabuto was unable to breathe, being forced to nod his head despite the fact that Alex was placing no pressure on his throat or chest. "Good. Now, if you'd be so kind as to _leave_." Zabuto couldn't get out of there fast enough, practically sprinting in his bid to get away from Alex.

Jenny approached Alex, thoroughly concerned about his personality shift and managed to catch his final, murmured, remark. "I hope you listen Zabuto, because that was your warning. You only get one." Such an ominous statement did nothing to soothe Jenny's fears and her face must have reflected that, because as he turned around and faced her his facial expressions quickly relaxed, taking on a far more welcoming form. "Ah." Alex instinctively ran his hand through his hair. "You saw that huh?"

Jenny was not impressed, "You better have a good explanation for this or I'm going to Giles right now." Alex stood there examining her, almost as if weighing her worth. "Come with me. I want to show you something."

The drive to the Harris' residence was made in silence, Alex seemed to have no desire to speak and Jenny was attempting to figure out Alex's behaviour. Even after arrival both remained silent, opting instead to enter the house and head towards the basement. Jenny caught a glimpse of a bottle covered floor as they passed a doorway but was unable to see more. As she entered the basement however, Jenny quickly shattered the silence. "What happened here? How can your parents have not come across this?" The room was for the most part still in its post-spell state, scorch marks left gouges in the walls and an intricate design was burnt into the floor. There was a desk in a corner that had some papers as well as a computer on it, other than that however it was one rather large mess. Alex merely shrugged and faced her. "Well, other than the fact that Jessica and Tony Harris are drunkards with equal, there's a perception filter on the door. Keeps people from noticing that there's a basement." Jenny turned and looked at the door, now noticing the way her eyes seemed to slide off it. Turning back to Alex she reiterated her first question. "What happened here?"

"I regenerated."

* * *

Whatever response Jenny had been expecting _that,_ was not it. "Re-regenerated? How? Why? What about your face? Shouldn't you hav…" Alex interrupted a stream of questions that was quickly approaching willow levels. "The spell." Having gotten her attention, and thus silence, he continued "The Chaos Spell was trying to do its job. However, the process of turning my body and mind into that of a Time Lord's would have killed me before completion. The Doctor knew this, so, he came up with a way to fix it." "Willow said you left right after Giles. No warning at all, you just bolted." "Exactly. The Doctor had tried to get in touch with me mentally and, well, let's just say I wasn't in a position to respond." A wince crossed Alex's face as he remembered the sheer agony the transformation had induced. "The spell wasn't just changing me mentally, it was changing me physically as well. Everything had to be changed, DNA… organ structure… my brain, all of it. Had to be changed." Realisation was beginning to dawn on Jenny but before she could ask any questions Alex continued "He wasn't going to let me die, he's a bit stubborn like that, his plan to keep me alive was more or less to force regeneration. I wouldn't have been able to do it on my own, my body wasn't changed enough to be capable of it. So he made a… spell-slash-ritual-rune array thingumabob to jump start the process. That would have been fine on its own, however, utilising the sheer brilliance that he had access to thanks to my homeworld he also managed to keep 'Xander' as the body and personality."

Jenny could only listen as Alex talked "Go on…" Alex seemed lost in thought for a moment before Jenny's encouragement brought him back. "Oh? Ah, right. Keeping Xander however, had unintended side effects. See Xander wasn't just Xander anymore, he'd been possessed by an Alpha Primal spirit meaning his soul, his essence had been changed. Oh he was still _human_, he was just something _more_." Alex took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm not sure whether the Doctor was aware of it or not, but he did account for it." Confusion ran rampant in Jenny's responding query "What? How?" "It wasn't a proper regeneration. It was more like a…" Here Alex paused, searching for the right word "…fusion. It bound me together, like duct taping the parts of a machine together before proper assembly. Time Lord, Human, Hyena. All three aspects of Alexander Lavelle Harris, tied together with the magical version of duct tape." Horror had replaced confusion in Jenny's mind. "But… that's your Soul! You can't be fragmented like that, the pieces would want to merge, claim dominance over one or the other, they'd be in constant war…" And the pieces fell into place… The changes, the constant flux in his attitude and emotions… Alex smiled rather bitterly as he watched Jenny realise what was happening "Exactly. Right now, my body, mind, and soul are attempting to find a balance between all three aspects. The age of the Time Lord, the potential of the Human, the pack mentality of the Hyena. As far as I can tell; if you consider the spell to be an outline, then where I am is the rough draft. My next regeneration…" "…Will be the final copy." Jenny finished in a whisper. "You aren't set yet." The small smile on his face was no longer bitter, in fact, it seemed thoughtful. "Indeed. It's strange really, I'm not actually a Time Lord. I'm definitely a Lord of something, not sure when, where, or what, but I can feel that I'm a Lord. My connection to Time is… different." "How so?" "I'm its caretaker. From what I can feel there aren't any Time Lords or their equivalent here in this universe, but I'm not a Lord of Time." At this Alex sniggered, prompting Jenny to ask as to the reason why. "Oh nothing much, just remembering something someone said to the Doctor a while back." "What did they say?" Alex sniggered again. "They asked him if there were really Lords of such a small domain." Jenny couldn't actually find anything funny about that, leading her to suspect there was a context that she was not aware of. As Alex's sniggering died down he resumed his lecture.

"At anyrate, I'm different to a Time Lord. Still have the authority of a Time Lord though, which is probably a good thing. Always handy to have a title backing you up." Not sure what to make of that, Jenny brought his attention back to his instability. "So you won't actually know what you are till you regenerate again?" Alex shrugged. "More or less. Cool thing is though, I'm pretty sure I'll still be me after this one as well. Might grow a tad older, fill out a bit, but I'm pretty sure most of the energy will be spent on merely finalising what I am."

Strangely enough, Jenny was both pleased and disappointed in this fact. '_I hope I get to meet the next him._' The nature of the thought that ran through her head surprised her, but, thinking about it it made sense. _'I want to see what he'll become…'_ Shaking herself out of her thoughts Jenny asked Alex the big question.

"When are you planning to do it?"

* * *

**NOTES: **Well, there we are. I was originally going to have the interview with the SGC reps this chapter, and then I noticed that I really should be in bed. Ah well, might have it done tomorrow.

Ttfn y'all.


	8. Into the Deep End

**NOTES2:** Well, I've replaced this chapter to fix some glaring mistakes I made. Nothing truly major, just explained things slightly clearer.

* * *

_Shaking herself out of her thoughts Jenny asked Alex the big question. "When are you planning to do it?"_

The look of shock that crossed Alex's face as he turned to look at her was entirely unexpected. The response that followed however, broke Jenny's heart. "Do it? W-w-what do you mean? D-do it? Oh, do it. Heh, wonder when I'm going to kill myself…" For the first time since Halloween Alex acted as the seventeen year old he was - a seventeen year old who was currently facing his impending death and probable immortality – as he slumped against the wall. "I… I don't know… I don't want to change Change is bad Change means I ain't Alex anymore, change won't happen change can't happen, watch, yes, watch will control it…" Alex's breathing sped up as he continued to talk. "Alex!" Jenny interrupted Alex's spiel as she grabbed his face with her hands and forced him to look at her. "Alex! Calm Down! You need to focus." Dazed eyes looked into hers for several seconds before Alex returned. "Right. Focus." A rather melodramatic sigh was released as he leant his head up against the wall. "Regenerate. When. Right… Not yet."

That… wasn't in the list of responses Jenny had been expecting. As such, she voiced her confusion. "What do you mean by not yet?" Alex looked at her for a second, not in a nice way either, before shaking his head with a sigh. "How do I explain this…" He seemed to have a mental debate for a few seconds before deciding. "There's five senses right? Touch, Hearing, Sight, Taste, and smell?" "Yes…" "Load of rubbish."

Once again Jenny was thrown for a loop by Alex's rather chaotic thought processes, which… left her response sounding rather, snarky. "Oh? Then how many senses are there?" "Eight." Jenny mentally sighed, she really should start expecting this with Alex. "And just what are these eight?" Alex grinned, seemingly reading her thoughts, before replying. "Touch, Hearing, Sight, Taste, Smell…" Here Alex paused, moving his head slightly in a distinctly bobble-head fashion. "Let's call number six Mental Awareness. You know, magic, psychics, empaths, that sort of stuff. Number seven is knowledge, number eight…" Alex's pause this time seemed to be an attempt to steel his resolve, why he needed to do so was beyond her. "Number eight is instinct. Of course then there's Temporal Sensitivity and the like but that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish, you see..." Jenny's reply was blunt, to the point and stopped Alex's lecture dead in its tracks. "I don't understand. What's this got to do with you knowing when?"

"All humans have one to five. All humans have the _potential _for six and eight. Eight and seven are, as far as I'm aware, mutually exclusive. Besides, humans and Knowledge don't really mix. Right now I'm going with instinct. And instinct says not yet, of course knowing me the way I do it'll probably happen earlier than I want it to and later than it should." That got a small laugh from Jenny, "Probably."

With his pity-fest over (Not that Alex would ever admit to having one in the first place), Alex got to his feet and offered Jenny his hand. "Right then, better get you home before the rumours start. Shall we go?" Jenny took the help with a "Thanks." As they walked out of the Harris' basement however she stopped, her voice stopping Alex as well. "Alex." He turned with a raised eyebrow. "Yes?" "I'm here. I don't know how much you've got left from the Doctor, but even he needed to drag a human along to keep him in line. Don't forget, I'm here if you need me." The answering smile melted her heart. "Thanks Janna. I might just hold you to that."

* * *

The next few days passed rather quickly for Alex. His session with Jenny had taken a load off of his mind and left him with a rather calm determination. He was still figuring out how to start a space program that wasn't country limited, but a plan was beginning to take shape. Of course, as always, that plan got thrown out the window Sunday morning during church. It was strange really, prior to Halloween Alex hadn't been all that into faith and God despite his awareness of the Sunnydale nightlife. Now however, his own experiences coupled with what he recalled from the Doctor had left him with an unwavering faith in the Creator. Alex was never one to do something halfway, his school records attest to that, and he had been attending a local church every Sunday without fail since the possession.

The service was interrupted however by the entry of an Air Force Major, despite his best efforts to the contrary. The pastor stopped his sermon and, rather pointedly, asked "Can I help you officer?" Said Major blushed slightly before responding. "I'm looking for Alexander Smith." This drew a rather loud sigh from Alex, which rose more than a few eyebrows of the surrounding church goers. '_Lovely. Well, at least I'm wearing my trainers. I don't particularly want to wear out my shoes from all the running.'_No matter how much he wished to sink into his chair and disappear from sight, Alex stood up and acknowledged the Major. "That'd be me. I take it I won't be able to stay for the rest of the service?" The Major actually looked genuinely sorry as he replied in the affirmative. "No, I apologise for the inconvenience." Alex waved it off "Ah… Don't worry about it. If you'll excuse me pastor, sorry for the interruption." With the farewell given and apology made, Alex left the church, with the Major not too far behind.

'_Wow, wonder what's so bad that they're in such a rush'_ was Alex's thought as the vehicle he was in sped at least 20 miles over the speed limit towards the Airport. Both the Major and the driver had remained silent as to the reason WHY he was needed so badly, Alex however had put any fears he might have had to rest by calling Alistair and telling him what was going on. Echo Point Engineering might not have been all that big, but what they lacked in quantity their quality more than made up for. The US government would have to be completely and utterly brain dead to kidnap Alex in such a brazen manner.

The flight and subsequent drive to Mt Cheyenne was silent as well, which _really_ set the alarm bells a ringing in Alex's head. _'Lovely. So not only do they need me to clean up their mess, they don't want anyone else to know about it. The question is… who is the anyone else?' _The fact that his guide remained silent even as they approached NORAD and he hadn't been given any forms yet made Alex wonder why he bothered. _'Oh yeah. REALLY glad I'm wearing my trainers.' _The silence wasn't broken until they'd not only exited the lift but also entered what appeared to be the resident trouble shooting room. Blueprints were spread across desks and pinned to walls while entire whiteboards were covered with equations. The dozens of scientists scattered across the room didn't exactly help this impression either.

Conversation came to a halt as the Major stepped in. "All right people, this is Alexander Smith. Due to security concerns he hasn't yet been briefed _or_ signed any NDFs so please think about what you say before you start pumping him for information." With that, the Major stepped off to the side, giving Alex the room to walk further in. Alex took a good look around the room before looking at the scientists.

"Right then. Someone mind telling me how ATMOS wound up in the hands of a hostile _alien_civilisation?"

He was answered with silence.

* * *

**NOTES:** Yes, I borrowed the whole knowledge is a sense thing from AC and yes I mixed it with the whole logic vs instinct thing from Bleach. Just to clarify I don't own either. I needed a method to differentiate (beyond pure physiology) the difference between Time Lords and what Alex will be. Hence, the eight senses.

As a few people have suggested I put this on Twisting the Hellmouth, that is what I shall do. I am faced with a bit of a conundrum though, his 'solidification' will happen in the middle of a battle. I am yet to decide as to whether it will be with demons or Jaffa. Any preferences?


	9. Planning Session

**NOTE:** This set shortly after S3 Deadman's Switch.

* * *

The silence blanketed the room for a solid thirty seconds before the Major regained control of himself and broke it. "How? Are you a telepath?" 

Alex laughed before replying "Nope, not a telepath. Well… not in the sense you're thinking of anyway. It was kind of obvious really." Here he waved in the direction of the blueprints and equations. "Seriously, you expect to leave all that stuff lying around in plain sight and for someone as smart as me not to figure it out? Ludicrous! That equation there is quite plainly for crystal based circuitry, over there we've got weather patterns that don't match anywhere on Earth and finally we've got a blown up version of what is a rather crudely modified, but still identifiable, version of an oversised ATMOS. So, back to the original question, how'd it get off-world?" 

Silence reigned once again for several seconds before the explanations began. Apparently the NID had once again screwed things up—_'This better not become a habit for them'_—and had been attempting to reverse engineer the ATMOS device in an off-world base. A minor Goa'uld in service to Yu was in charge of a small mining operation there which the NID's scouts had missed. In the ensuing battle the Goa'uld had secured the blueprints present and had, in a rare show of creativity for the Goa'uld, turned ATMOS into a Chemical Weapon Factory. He was currently testing both it and the weapon on a small planet that was currently a Tok'ra staging ground. 

Major Carter was stunned. This complete stranger walked in without signing _any_ NDFs and in the space of thirty seconds had not only endeared himself to practically the entire team working on the problem, but also had somehow convinced them to completely disregard all procedures and tell him what was happening. She knew _why_ they were so eager to please, he was after all the creator of ATMOS and seemed to have a 'trust me, help me' feeling about him. Almost as if you were scared to dissapoint him. It was this last part that had her concerned though, memories of Hathor and Seth flashed through her mind. '_I'll need to talk to the General about this.' _Her thoughts were interrupted by Mr. Smith asking another question. 

"So, you've got all this stuff and you are all quite obviously competent so the _real_ question that needs answering is… What do you need me for?" 

A rather arrogant looking man spoke up from the back of the room. "We need to understand how you've made the ATMOS device work. Every simulation we've run and all of our calculations say that that device is an impossibility. It fails, it overloads, one of the simulations had it exploding! The Goa'uld have adapted with their technology but it is impossible for ATMOS to work using Earth technology and materials." 

Smith shrugged and replied with, in Carter's opinion, an extremely smug tone in his voice. "Well, I guess I'm a fraud then." 

The scientist, a Dr. Heinslatch if Carter remembered correctly, didn't take Smith's reply too well. "Don't play with me! All testing done on ATMOS was under supervision, I have a friend who was part of the team who verified the results! It _does_ work and you are going to tell us how!" 

Something about the way Smith's eyebrow rose reminded her of Teal'c, not a happy Teal'c either, and Carter rushed to prevent anything happening that they'd regret. Well, _she'd_ regret and would get Heinslatch fired. 

"That's not true." 

Smith turned and faced her; Carter could have sworn a smirk danced across his face. 

"Oh?" 

"We need to know if there are any weaknesses we can exploit. The Tok'ra are trapped in their lair and the toxin will reach them in 12 hours. Nothing we've thought of so far has held up on paper let alone practice, and we're running out of time." 

The next few seconds would haunt Carter's dreams for weeks to come. As Mr Smith looked her in the eyes her world fell apart. Every cell in her body told her to run and hide because he wasn't just looking. He was _seeing_. Everything about her was stripped and laid open for his perusal and it terrified her. Just as quickly as it had started it stopped, with Smith having apparently liked what he saw as he gave an incredibly boyish grin before clapping his hands together. 

"Right then! I want to know everything, what this program is, how long it's been working, mission reports, all of it." Smith walked over to the wall before spinning about, his trainers making a small 'squeek!' on the floor. "Oh! And I want everything you have on Goa'uld technology." 

The room was silent and still for several seconds before he got impatient. "Oi! Get to it!" 

Once again the Major was the first the regain control "I'm sorry but none of the people here have the authority to give you that information." 

In response he got an incredibly dry look from Smith "You're a smart man Major. Surely you know who _is_ capable of getting me that information." Smith gave his head a small shake tutting as he did so "Until then, could someone get me a cup of tea?" 

While most of the room were given the impression that he was thirsty the more astute of those present realised with a jolt that he had no intention of doing anything until his demands were met. One of the more opinionated scientists next to Carter took offense and had opened her mouth to berate him for his immaturity when Carter nudged her. 

A hissed "What?" was given in return. 

"Don't make things worse. He's obviously smart, he designed ATMOS, and he's young and rich. How do you think he's going to react when you tell him what he should and shouldn't do?" 

The scientist seethed for a couple of moments before reluctantly nodding her head. Carter placed a hand on her should in support before joining in a debate over the power distribution systems of the Goa'uld ATMOS. 

Alex sat in the corner of the room, hands folded under his chin with his eyes focused on something only he could see. If any of the Doctor's previous companions, or even foes, had been present they would have promptly told the SGC to run, because the healer had left the building and in his place was the being that had changed destinies on a whim and destroyed planets on a fancy. Somewhere among all those maps, blueprints and notes Alex had seen something he didn't like. 

Things like that tend to meet rather sudden ends. 

* * *

**AN:** Sorry 'bout the delay. Things got rather busy and I had a difficult time avoiding jumps. As it is it's rather brief.

At anyrate, 'till next time.


	10. Straight on 'till Morning

Alex stood in the cemetery in front of the headstone. As far as headstones went it was quite ordinary; gray, rounded edges, and neither too large nor too small. Yet this headstone was quite possibly _the_ most important headstone that had been laid to rest inside the last century. Though the majority of humans did not have senses capable of noticing the degree of importance, Alex had no such issues. To him it was for all intents and purposes a flare like no other; a swirling, pulsing, veritable maelstrom of colour and light.

For the headstone was the sole existing testament of a _Moment_ without equal. All the other testaments were rather of non-existence… Standing testament with the absence of things. This _Moment _was special, for it had redefined Earth's future to an unprecedented degree… It had made it _free_. No longer was Earth's path laid out for it by higher powers, it was completely and utterly _free_. The strange thing was that as Alex looked around there was no evidence of this, in fact it appeared to be quite the opposite. Whereas by the lessons taught to the Time Lords all of Earth should have been suffering from incredible degrees of temporal flux as the shockwave caused by its unbinding rippled through time Earth's timeline had actually stabilised. Why this was Alex had no idea, but then again he did not particularly _care_ enough to be interested in it.

His musings (NOT Brooding… NEVER Brooding) were interrupted by one of the, if not the, most bizarre sounds you'll ever hear. A rasping whir echoed across the compound as a small whirlwind appeared a few meters behind him, kicking up dust and leaves with no regard whatsoever. The only visible acknowledgement Alex gave to the new sound's presence was a small and, if truth be told, rather bitter grin.

As the sound grew in intensity a light appeared in the air near the top of the whirlwind followed shortly after by, what was revealed to be, the rest of the Police Call Box. The noise stopped almost immediately following the solidification of the Box and ten seconds after that the door opened before shutting again shortly after..

"It was my fault."

Alex didn't even turn around to see who, if anyone, had left the box. Instead he had simply started talking, you'd assume to thin air if you didn't know him. But Alex never talked to thin air, he never used two words when one would do, everything he did was part of a plan everything action had a purpose… Even if he himself wasn't aware of it at the time.

"After I regenerated I left the watch off. No need to keep it on after all, the regeneration had fixed all the issues and there was no point wearing such a gaudy watch when a slightly modified biodampner would be more than sufficient. I never thought anyone or anything could be that foolish, I still have trouble accepting that those… _things…_ had the nerve to break one of the oh so few _laws_ of existence. I'd have never believed that they, in their sanctimonious 'greater good' would use _magic_ of all things to violate a mortal's _free will_."

There was silence for several moments across the cemetery before a new voice rang out over the graves.

"And then?"

Alex turned to face the source of the voice. The sight that met him wasn't all that far out of the ordinary, and yet many beings would turn and run at the merest inkling that they'd meet it. A man stood before him, wearing a tweed jacket with accompanying bow tie. However, despite how young the man's body and face appeared his eyes spoke of _age_. However old Alex's eyes may have been the eyes of the man in front of him made him look like a child. In fact the same rang true for everything about him, he possessed an almost identical air, his stance was the practically the same and his words carried the same wisdom and power as Alex's… Except moreso, oh so much _more_.

"It escalated."

Alex's reply was flat and short, nothing else followed and nothing else needed. Those two words, echoing back the final conversation between the two, told the man _everything._ Strangely enough, despite the incredible level of devastation that resulted from things 'escalating' the man did not seem to be upset or angry. In fact his response was to sigh before giving Alex an understanding, and slightly sad, smile.

"Want a lift?"

Alex took a deep breath before running a hand through his hair as he turned back to the headstone. His head moving about in obvious contemplation before abruptly spinning back around to face the man in the bow tie.

"Absolutely."

The man stepped to the side pushing open the door to the Police Box.

"After you then."

The man paused before continuing.

"Any preferences?"

Alex walked to the door before turning around and walking in backwards as he responded. His voice rather subdued before taking on a rather teasing tone at the end.

"Second to the right, straight on 'till morning… And... Back in time for tea."

The man chuckled as he followed Alex into the box.

"Breakfast maybe. Tea? Not a chance."

Alex snorted as he replied.

"Whatever! I bet you've just forgotten how to park properly. I could a better job in my sleep!"

"Oi!"

The door to the Police Box closed, muffling any further barbs and idignant responses and the Box quickly disappeared in the manner as its arrival. The cemetery returned to its quiet state with only a few leaves flapping in the wind bearing evidence to the presence of Alex and the man with the Blue Box.

* * *

**Right then... I apologise for the ridiculous delay but life seems to be conspiring to do everything in its power to keep me from adding new chapters to this.**

**The result being I now have ~30k words sitting in the one word document that need to be chapterised and re-read as well as several additions/changes to previous chapters...**

**As such I've decided that I'm going to finish this story, along with any modifications/cleanups of previous chapters, and get started on the next one before posting anything. This snippet is the tail end of what I've completed with not all that much left till the end. Just a quick jaunt before returning home and cleaning up his mess. However... Due to the recent changes in my Uni schedule it won't be all done until ~end of Nov.**

**At anyrate... Thank you all for your (hopefully) continued patience... And as always, reviews/advice/spotted screwups are appreciated :D**

**Keeper of Storms**


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